Candidate Rolando Pablos’ campaign and its backers are spending big on attack ads and mailers as the race to replace termed-out Mayor Ron Nirenberg heads into the home stretch.
Meanwhile, the campaign of Pablos’ rival, Gina Ortiz Jones, and the political action committees (PACs) supporting her are spending far less, according to the latest campaign finance reports, released Friday. Most of the money going to Jones during that period was independently raised by her campaign covered campaign salaries and mailers, documents show.
The Texas Economic Fund — a conservative PAC backing Pablos – has spent $623,000 on the runoff since the May 3 primary, filings show. More than $450,000 of that sum funded TV ads attacking Jones. Texas Economic Fund is headed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s former political director.
Meanwhile, the politically powerful San Antonio Police Officers Association, which endorsed Pablos last month, spent about $150,000 on TV ads and another $60,000 on billboards, some of which accuse Jones of being soft on crime. SAPOA still has about $861,000 on hand to spend, records show.
Although Jones is backed by well-funded PACs of her own in addition to outside progressive organizations, the recent campaign finance data show they’re not spending as freely as Pablos’ backers.
Fields of Change, a PAC that helps progressives get elected at the local, state and national levels, reported spending $160,000 on the runoff so far.
Local progressive group ACT4SA Action PAC – the organization behind the failed San Antonio Justice Charter – spent $25,000 on canvasing for Jones. The Texas Organizing Project also spent approximately $25,000 to back the candidate.
Independently, the Pablos campaign raised $332,000 in the past month, focusing on major donors, primarily located in Bexar County and South Texas.
During the filing period, Pablos’ campaign doled out $70,000 to Washington D.C.-based Axion – a consulting firm also doing work on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate bid, records show. The campaign also spent $80,000 on consulting and ads with Indiana-based Prosper Group and another $15,000 on DC-based FP1 strategies.
Meanwhile, the majority of the $248,000 raised by the Jones campaign appears to have gone to paying campaign staff and voter outreach, according to her filings. Jones also spent $60,000 on mailers from the DC-based Pivot Group.
Early voting in the mayoral runoff ends Tuesday. Polls will reopen 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Election Day, June 7.
Residents can check on open polling stations and verify their registration status by visiting the Bexar County Election Department’s website.
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This article appears in May 29 – Jun 11, 2025.